A Silver Aster
by ToryTigress92
Summary: An oneshot set in the same AU as 'At The Beginning'. Anniversaries aren't celebrated on Asgard, but Jane and Loki's children have other ideas about that. Whether or not they'll work is another matter entirely…with some help from their godfather and Earth friends. As for Loki, he has more than one trick up his sleeve to ensure Jane never forgets their Silver Wedding Anniversary.


A Silver Aster

Warnings: Explicit Content

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

_**A/N: **_An oneshot set twenty five years after the events of 'At The Beginning'. Anniversaries aren't celebrated on Asgard, but Jane and Loki's children have other ideas about that.

Whether or not they'll work is another matter entirely…

* * *

The wind lightly danced and teased along the evergreen branches of the Olympia National Park. The sun burned brightly overhead, the sapphire sky clear of clouds, only the occasional jet fighter or passenger plane flying overhead.

It had been twenty-six years since the end of the War. The world had rebuilt, although it was an ongoing process. Life had returned to some form of normality. Peace reigned, apart from the occasional skirmish when some villain with delusions of grandeur would raise their head and cause some trouble.

It wasn't very peaceful in the forest that morning.

"No, Thor! Not those ones, the yellow ones. We're going for warm and cosy, not traffic lights!"

In a clearing, where an old cabin stood, slightly ruinous and long abandoned, six young people scurried to and fro, lugging boxes and furniture around like they were toys.

The barked order came from a tall, willowy girl, twenty years old, dark hair the colour of sable draping her back. She stood, hands on hips, eying her victim beadily.

The victim, a towering, lean man with shoulder-length dark hair, same as hers, returned her glare. "Helly, I'm looking for the yellow ones, but the yellow ones just aren't there!"

"_**Don't**_ call me that!" she snapped.

"Oh, stow it, you two!" another called from his place by the truck. He bore similar looks to the other two, although slightly lighter, his hair a shade of mahogany brown, his eyes with all the colour of a doe's eyes, but a mischievous twinkle in their depths. His twin smirked; the only difference between them a smattering of stubble across his jaw. With a nod from his brother, he raised his hand and flicked it.

Hela shrieked as a spider fell on her head. With a growl, she swiped it aside and it fell into black dust, falling to the ground. She spun with a glare at her younger, teenage, twin brothers.

"Fen! Yogi! Leave Hela alone!" another voice shouted, as another girl emerged from the back of the truck. Like her sister, she was dark-haired and pale, with bright emerald eyes, but her figure was still that of a girl becoming a woman.

"Don't call me Yogi!" Jorgmundr growled.

"Thank you, Jaina," Hela sniffed, eying her unapologetic brothers coolly.

"She's just not used to the great outdoors. You know, outside the court," Jaina continued teasingly, as she passed a box to her eldest brother. "That's why she's wearing a skirt and not hiking boots."

The boys laughed, and Hela glared. "Well, at least some of us deserve the moniker 'lady'," she hissed. Jaina just sniggered.

"You need those put up, Thor?" she asked, glancing up at the eaves of the cabin. He glanced up, then at Jaina.

"I'll do it in a second," he smiled warmly, but she just rolled her eyes.

"Or I'll do it now," she snapped, taking hold of the string of lights and running for the cabin wall.

"Don't-" Thor started.

Jaina leapt up the side of the cabin like it was a climbing wall, swinging herself up and onto the eaves.

"You could have just asked one of us, Jaina," Hela rolled her eyes, folding her arms. The youngest sighed, and rolled her eyes right back.

"That wouldn't be any fun," she retorted. Another stepped from the shadows of the cabin, smirking amusedly, almost catlike as he stepped into the sunlight. He leaned on the doorframe, and eyed his youngest sister.

"And that would be just too easy, sister dear," he sighed, exasperatedly.

"Really, Erik. You're such a bore," Jaina replied, as she wound the fairy lights round and round the eaves, edging herself along as she worked.

"Just be careful, Jaina," Thor sighed, with the same amount of exasperation as Erik and Hela.

"I'm fine, Thor," she replied, an edge creeping into her voice. As if to prove it, she stood up on a beam and jumped from it, landing as softly as a feather in the forest clearing.

"You know, I'm feeling rather emasculated doing all the cleaning," Erik murmured. "Anyone fancy giving me a hand?"

"Please, you've got all the powers of the Universe on your side, and you're grumbling about a little dust? What are you, a magician or a mouse?" Jaina called teasingly. Erik's eyes narrowed, and he growled.

"Say that again, and I'll turn you into a rat," he muttered. Her eyes turned into vivid slits of green, as she glared at him.

"Try it!"

"Alright, children," Fenrir sighed. "Let's just get this done before Mum and Dad start asking too many questions. You know Heimdall can't resist Mum when she gives him the puppy dog eyes."

All six of them sniggered, as they unloaded the last of the boxes from the truck, and Thor, Fenrir, Jorgmundr and Jaina finished positioning the furniture, while Erik and Hela waved away the last of the dust with their magic. There was no electricity, long since disconnected, but they compensated with magic. By the time they had finished, the cabin was awash with light and warmth, restored to its glory days. The siblings looked at their handiwork, and grinned, satisfied.

"Mischief managed," Jaina sighed happily.

"You've been reading too much Harry Potter again," Fenrir added teasingly.

* * *

_Later that night…_

Wedding anniversaries weren't celebrated on Asgard. With the average couple living to see their 2000th anniversary, there seemed little point to the Aesir.

Jane had been living on Asgard for twenty five years, ruling by her husband's side. She loved Asgard and its beauty, its golden buildings, its graceful courts, but she had never forgotten Earth. They visited often enough, of course, especially as Jane was now the foremost expert on Asgardian astrophysics, and sometimes gave lectures and contributed to academic journals, and Darcy was the Aesir Ambassador to Earth, but she didn't let go of her birthplace despite being Queen of Asgard for twenty-five years.

So while she liked celebrating the date she married Loki, she didn't do it publicly. She preferred it that way, anyway. They didn't start celebrating the date of Loki's coronation, and her own, for least another seventy-five years, so they didn't have to worry about that either.

Tonight, it was just family and friends.

As she moved through the small crowd, chatting here and there, talking with Pepper about her children, who couldn't be there tonight and sent their apologies; Harry was busy with his PhD, and Jenny with art school, laughing at one of Tony's very bad jokes, exchanging soft smiles with Steve, stood with Clint and Natasha, while Maria stood talking quite seriously with Loki.

Jane paused for a moment, watching her husband. He looked the same as ever, darkly handsome, but there was a power and a wisdom that had come only through ruling and fatherhood.

He had been an excellent father, from the very first time he held a kicking, wriggling Thor in his arms. She suspected it was his own upbringing, and sense of being second-best, that had made him determined that his own children never feel the same way.

Quite how he managed to convince Jane to have six children, she wasn't sure. She was still trying to work that one out. Not that it mattered; being Aesir meant she got rid of the baby fat pretty quickly. Well that, and having a pretty active marital bed, as the ladies of the court liked to gossip.

Just the thought of it made her blush. After being married to Loki for quarter of a century, one would have thought she was impossible to shock by now. Blinking back to reality, she met his eyes, now fixed on hers, and his sly smirk.

Damn that man. Why'd he have to take his title so seriously?

With a narrow-eyed glare, she turned away. She could just visualise his smug chuckle.

* * *

They hadn't had much time to themselves in the past few months. Loki had been so busy trying to defuse a trade dispute between Alfheim and Nornheim, with the help of Queen Karnilla, that she barely saw him except at night when he came to bed, and then it was usually to sleep. He always looked so exhausted; she could never find it in herself to complain. She had her own work to be getting on with as it was, and looking after the children, not that they would need it for much longer.

Her eyes roamed the crowd, picking each of them out in turn. Thor, tall, handsome and muscular, not unlike his namesake apart from the colouring. He was laughing and talking animatedly with Fandral and his daughter Mist, home from studying on Earth for a few weeks. In the crimson tunic and leather armour, he looked striking. She could still see him, in her arms for the first time, as an emerald eyed baby.

Erik joined them, draped in emerald green robes, his jaw dotted with the beginnings of a beard, like his brother. They stood close, unconsciously mirroring the other's stances. They were so close in age, that they were almost like twins except for the difference in personality. Thor was already a powerful warrior, and a competent sorcerer, but Erik was the opposite. He could hold his own with weapons, but his true talent was sorcery. He was becoming as powerful as his father, and he preferred the quietness of his books and the libraries of Asgard to the practice fields.

Smiling gently, she turned her gaze to Darcy, Natasha and Kára; Darcy and Fandral's second born. She usually stayed on Earth, as a member of the Avengers and SHIELD, but had agreed to come home to visit her family and friends for one night, the only one of their children missing was Eir. The Valkyrie rarely left Valhalla, even for occasions such as this. Hela joined them, stately and elegant, sable hair coiled and piled high on her head. She was only twenty, but she already moved with a grace that reminded Jane of Frigg. She smiled and laughed, flicking a stray lock of hair back, enchanting every unwed man or Aesir in the room.

The twins appeared, Fenrir snagging Kára away, as Finn took her place, quietly talking with Hela and Jorgmundr. She sighed, watching them. Those boys, too much like their father for their own good. Mischief makers indeed.

There had been some concern when the twins were born, since they seemed to be in a constant state of flux after she had given birth to them. They had shifted from one blurred form to the next, from baby to indistinct creature and then back to baby. Eventually, they had settled into their Aesir forms, until they turned four, and had transformed into a tiny snake and a wolf cub. Shape shifters, Loki had bound their power until they were old enough to control it. Now, they loved nothing more than shape shifting during their many bouts of mischief-making.

Satisfied they were alright and happy, she turned her eyes to her youngest daughter, Jaina. She was only sixteen years old but she was growing up too fast for Jane's liking. Tomboyish where Hela was ladylike, tough where her older sister was refined, Jaina delighted in the arts of warfare and the outdoors. Jane had ensured all her children were dedicated scholars, but Erik and Jaina were the most enthusiastic. Jaina had always loved her mother's research, and the fact that she did more than the duties of a Queen. She wouldn't be surprised if she begged Loki to let her go to an Earth university to study it when she was old enough.

If he let her. They were all protective of the youngest Princess of Asgard, since she was the only one of their children who could not use magic. They didn't understand why, especially since Loki had confided that he sensed magic within Jaina, but she couldn't use it. Regardless, they all looked out for her, despite her combined Aesir/Jotunn physiognomy, and it annoyed her to no end.

Usually, she took out her annoyance in the sparring fields on Thor, Fenrir or Jorgmundr, or any idiot stupid enough to stand against her. Sixteen years old, and she was already deadly. Jane was sure she should be slightly worried about that fact.

Her eyes went to the raven-haired beauty that smiled and gently inserted herself into conversation with Jaina, Steve and Hogun. She smiled at the sight of the Aesir Princess and the Captain talking so closely. It gave her hope that Sif might find some small measure of happiness, one day, as she grew closer to the super-soldier.

* * *

Loki stepped from the shadows behind his wife, his eyes running over her slender form. Draped in scarlet silk, trimmed with gold, it resembled a Roman-Greco dress in its loose design, but it drew his eye inevitably to the places of her body he loved the most. She had been his wife and Queen for twenty-five years, and the flames of his desire had never died. They never would.

Ensuring his duplicate was still in place, talking politely with Maria Hill, now long retired from SHIELD, he stepped forward, bending his head to her bare shoulder and kissing it desirously. In this whole mess with Alfheim and Nornheim, he'd missed her terribly. He had longed for her, but every night, despite all the promises he made himself, he was too fatigued to do more than kiss her and hold her close as he succumbed to his exhaustion. She never complained, and for that, he loved her more than ever.

"Loki!" she gasped, jumping slightly as his arms slid around her waist. "You scared me."

"Well, we wouldn't want that…" he drawled against her neck, and she shivered.

"Stop it," she murmured warningly.

"Never."

She leaned her head back, bringing her to his, as he kissed her gently.

"Haven't you two ever heard of the phrase 'get a room'?"

They drew apart and Loki sighed, before glancing sideways at his eldest son with a raised eyebrow. "Mind your own business, Thor."

The tall, dark Prince smirked and crossed his arms, as Jaina bounced up on his other side. Her eyes fell to where Loki's hand lingered on Jane's waist, and shuddered. "That's it. I'm traumatised for all eternity. Someone get me a therapist."

"You, young lady, are on thin ice," Loki growled, releasing Jane. She rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm, before eying Jaina.

"Jaina, stop teasing your father."

"Yes, mum," she sighed, rolling her eyes. Loki looked down on his wife, admiringly.

"How do you do that?" he asked, nuzzling her curls. "Every time I try that, she just gives me a look."

"A look?" Jaina and Jane both asked at the same time. "What look?"

"Your mother's look," Loki chuckled, Thor laughing along with him. Jaina glared, while Jane rolled her eyes.

"Not funny, Dad."

Thor gave Jaina a nudge, as their parents stared at them. A huge, beaming smile broke over Jaina's elfin features, and she whipped two small, silk-wrapped packages from behind her back. "Happy 25th Anniversary!"

"Not so loud. I feel old already," Loki groaned jokingly, earning himself a nudge in the ribs from his wife, before she examined her gift.

"It's from all of us, and Pepper and Tony helped, of course," their youngest continued to explain excitedly. "You don't need to worry about a thing, just follow the instructions. Everything's covered."

"Now I'm worried," Loki muttered under his breath. Jane elbowed him again.

"Yeah, well I'm the youngest. That's my job," Jaina replied cheekily.

"You don't say," Thor rolled his eyes with a long suffering sigh. "I thought she was going to kill herself today."

Both Loki and Jane began to look concerned, so Jaina punched Thor on the arm. Hard.

"Do you have to be so brutal?" he wondered, rubbing the reddening skin. Jaina rolled her eyes.

"You're more of a girl than I am," she retorted with a snort. Thor's eyes narrowed.

"Keep talking, Jaina. Being my little sister only lets you get away with so much."

"Like the fact that I hid your practice sword on the top of the east tower?" she replied with a mischievous grin, before disappearing with a laugh.

"Why you…? Jaina!" Thor rushed after her, leaving their parents behind, watching their children with slightly glazed expressions.

"She gets that from you," Jane pronounced, her eyes moving from her mischievous daughter to her mischievous husband.

* * *

The instructions on Jane's card, once she unwrapped it, told her to go to her dressing room. Stepping inside the warmly lit room, she spotted the garment bag waiting for her, laid over her stool.

"What are you girls up to?" she muttered, as she unzipped the bag, and her eyes widened. "Ah. _**That's **_what they're up to."

Suddenly three heads peered around her open door. "Do you like it?" Jaina asked excitedly. "Natasha and Pepper helped me pick it out for you."

Hela smiled exasperatedly at her sister's antics. "Sorry, Mum," she murmured softly. "I couldn't hold her back."

"Are you surprised?" Darcy laughed, the skirts of her palest ivory dress rustling as she moved. "Come on, hurry up. Fandral and the boys are getting Loki ready, so come on. Strip!"

Jane rolled her eyes, and went behind an ornately embroidered screen to change. She dropped the red and gold gown, feeling it fall away with an odd lightening sensation. As she slipped Jaina's gift over her head, she felt that sensation intensify, as if she was shedding some kind of burden.

She let her hair down from its intricate style, and regarding the mass of curls, gathered her magic, and instantly the long ringlets were straightened and smoothed, until they hung down her back in one long cloak of caramel silk. She hadn't worn her hair like that since coming to Asgard.

Darcy and Jaina both clapped and laughed when she emerged, but Hela just smiled. "You look pretty, Mum," she sighed, thinking she also looked incredibly young again. Her mother had always been like a paragon of beauty and elegance to her, from her earliest years, but now stripped of the costume of her title, she looked younger than even Hela felt.

But the aura of power that always clung to her never went away.

"It's lovely, thank you sweetheart," Jane told her youngest, before enfolding both of her girls in a hug. "Both of you."

They smiled into her hair, before Hela pulled another gift from the garment bag and held it out to her mother. She looked at it questioningly. "It might be a bit cold where you're going," was all Hela would say. Jane smiled and shook her head.

* * *

Loki paced the hall. Fandral, Thor, Erik, Finn, Fenrir and Jorgmundr had hustled him out of his chambers as soon as he had changed and then down to the Asbru Gate, refusing to tell him a single thing. Of course, they couldn't hide everything.

He was dressed in Midgardian attire, a black, tailored suit and a green and gold scarf he vaguely recalled wearing once before, during the memorial service for the dead after Morgana's defeat.

Oh so long ago, now.

He held his sceptre in his hand, disguised as an ornate golden cane topped with a deep blue jewel. He let its power wash over him, familiar and comforting, as he waited for the arrival of his wife and daughters.

To his surprise, they all came. Pepper, Darcy, Fandral, Mist, Kára, Tony, Maria, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Jaina, Hela, Frigg and then Jane last of all, looking delicate and young in a midnight blue winter coat.

Again, Midgardian attire.

"Alright you lot," he addressed his children. "What are you up to, and do not even think of lying to me?"

"Sorry, Dad," Erik grinned. "Lips are sealed."

Loki sighed, but as he looked from face to face, they all wore the exact same expressions of knowing anticipation, except for Jane, who looked as confused as he felt.

He sighed, and looked to Heimdall, who just chuckled deeply and shook his head. "Forgive me, My King, but I was sworn not to divulge their secret by the blood of the All-Father himself."

"Just enjoy this time, my son," Frigg stepped forward as Jane came to his side, and he drew her closer with his arm. "You have earned it, and this is a special time for you both."

More clues. Loki mulled over her words even as he embraced her tightly.

"Dude, seriously," Tony sighed. "Stop thinking it over, and just enjoy the damn gift."

"Uncle Tony, never use the word 'dude' again. You're way too old," Jaina sighed. Tony reached out and ruffled her hair, which she glared at him for, and batted his hand away. Pepper shook her head with an amused smile.

"Fine," Loki sighed, as he removed the small, thin piece of plastic that had been included with the parchment containing his instructions. "Stay out of trouble. All of you," he added, eying Fenrir, Jorgmundr and Jaina especially, who tried and failed to look innocent.

"Never fear, Loki," Fandral slapped his shoulder with a winning smile. "I shall keep them in line."

"And fail spectacularly in the process," Darcy interjected. "They're the kids of the God of Mischief. Hello! Clue's in the description."

Shaking his head, the couple said goodbye to their family and friends, before they all filed out, leaving Jane and Loki alone with Heimdall.

"What is that?" Jane asked, examining the card closely. In one corner, there was a SHIELD emblem in black, tiny and almost scratched away.

"My King, My Queen," Heimdall interrupted their reverie, gesturing to the Bifrost. "Time grows short, and you must be gone."

"Very well," Loki sighed, leading Jane into place. "Keep an eye on them for me, Heimdall."

"Two eyes, my King," the Guardian smirked. "As often as I may spare them."

"That's still not comforting," he sighed, before pulling Jane close. They stepped into the gateway, and felt the jolt as the Bifrost transported them away from Asgard.

* * *

They landed in darkness, apart from a weak silvery light that Jane guessed was the moon. She breathed in deep the scent of pine needles and fresh air, feeling the remains of an old, disused road beneath her heels.

She hadn't seen it in twenty-six years, but she would recognise this place anywhere.

"Is that…?" she gasped excitedly, eyes wide as Loki grinned.

"Why, yes I think it is."

In front of them, restored to its former glory, warm and welcoming, draped in golden fairy lights, was the cabin they had stayed in during Jane's convalescence and Loki's self-imposed exile from Asgard. That idyllic week still lingered in Jane's memory, and she blinked back tears.

SHIELD had moved their medical facility elsewhere decades ago, but Stark Industries had brought the land, and Tony had suggested it to Thor and Erik when they had been discussing what to get their parents for their Silver wedding anniversary.

Jane was overjoyed. She all but ran to it, barely aware of her husband behind her, as she realised that was what the card was. The key card to their only little heaven, from so long ago.

"Now we know where they all disappeared off to. Archery practice my foot," Loki snorted, sliding the card into the lock.

"You do keep falling for it, darling," Jane sighed.

The door clicked open, but before Jane could walk over the threshold, Loki swept her up into his arms, and carried her over it. A devilish grin on his pale features, he just chuckled when Jane eyed him warily. "My duty, I think," he breathed.

It was the same as they remembered. Warm, airy and open, they stood in the hallway-cum-living room, and looked out of the wide glass windows and out over the forest beyond.

On a glass coffee table, stood a ceramic black vase filled to bursting with flowers. As Loki let Jane down, she rushed to investigate, breathing in their delicate perfume with relish. They were all coloured soft shades of silver.

"Asters, calla lilies and ivy," she breathed. "It's beautiful."

"In the language the Victorians gave to flowers, asters are a symbol of love, calla lilies beauty, and the ivy signifies wedded love, fidelity, friendship and affection," Loki replied, and she stared up at him, mouth gaping. "What is it?"

"Even after twenty-five years, you still surprise me," she said, standing from her crouch. He smiled predatorily, and reached for her coat.

"I should hope so, my love," he purred in her ear, making her shiver as he pulled the blue wool down her arms. His eyes scanned her figure and he sucked in a breath.

"Should I be worried my daughters have such…taste in clothing?" he asked, his voice low and husky.

The dress Jaina had picked out was an electric blue, silk and clingy, but perfectly ladylike and respectable. What enthralled Loki, and made him worry for his daughters' innocence, was the way the dress highlighted each and every curve on Jane's body, the off-shoulder sleeves exposing the alabaster skin of her shoulders and collarbone. Her long, straightened, hair hid her back from him, but it shone like a cloak of burnished mahogany.

"Probably," Jane gasped, as his arms slid around her waist and his mouth, hot and lustful, roamed the exposed skin of her shoulders, nudging aside her hair.

_Umm, guys? Is this on? _

The couple paused, at the familiar tones of Tony Stark. They exchanged a long-suffering glance, and broke apart.

_Ok, I'm guessing I just interrupted you guys in the middle of…something. So hold fast a sec, and listen._

They glanced around, finding a small recording device nestled among the ivy in the vase. Jane sighed, shaking her head.

_Basically, those God-kids of mine came up with this crazy idea. Apparently you needed a break, big fella. I mean, what, being King of the Universe get too much for you?_

A new voice came on, exasperated and impatient. Jaina

_Sorry, Mum, Dad. Look, we've got it all sorted. Grandma, the Advisory Council, Fandral, Thor and Erik will take care of everything back home for a little while. Just-_

_I will take it from here, thank you, Jaina. _Tony's voice took over. _Basically what she said. Enjoy your holiday, you've got the cabin for a week. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!_

_See you soon, Mum! Dad! Love you!_

Jane blinked back tears, beaming from ear to ear. Meeting her husband's twinkling eyes, she stepped close and pulled him to her by the ends of his scarf. "I think," she started coyly. "We have the best children ever."

"Hmm, I second that pronouncement," he replied, grinning predatorily, before leaning in. His lips brushed hers, and hunger sparked, hot and fresh, between them. It had been far too long, in Loki's opinion.

Their lips fused with practiced ease, Loki's tongue pressing deep into Jane's, teasing and taunting her into a heated game of parry and thrust. She'd forgotten how much she loved this, his hard body against hers, his hands cradling her face, as her hands roamed his shoulders, sliding beneath the lapels of his suit jacket.

His hands fell to her waist, and then one slid lower, over the curve of her bottom, pushing her into him. She moaned, willingly moving as he walked her backwards. His kiss turned urgent, and she shuddered with pure lust.

He pushed her back, onto the cushioning depths of the low-slung sofa, and paused, hovering over her, long hair draped over the cushions and armrest, one hand resting above her head, the other held out to him entreatingly, her stocking-clad legs stretched out, her red lips swollen.

His wife and the mother of his children. Gratitude swelled within him, and he lowered his head, forcing back his urgency and kissing her tenderly, making her whimper and moan into his mouth, her lips tracking his, a quizzical frown on her classical features.

"No responsibilities, no duties," he breathed hoarsely, his own chest rising and falling raggedly. He shifted his hips and his arousal against hers, and she gasped, arching instinctively. "No interruptions," he continued with a devilish quirk of his lips. "I have neglected you too long, my Queen."

His words held all the solemnity of a vow. His mouth was back on hers before she could breathe a word, and she was barely aware of the sofa beneath her changing to the soft, yielding mattress of their bed upstairs.

* * *

As she pushed the jacket from Loki's shoulders, his lips hungrily marking the juncture of her neck and shoulder, she glanced sideways and a surprised laugh escaped from her lips.

"They even packed for us," she explained, as her husband raised his head, and then looked in the direction she did. He smiled, and then looked back at her, brushing back a stray tendril of hair from her face.

"I warn you now, love, if there are 'sweats' in those suitcases, I will burn them this time," he growled. Jane grinned, and reached up.

"You're all talk," she hissed tauntingly, before her mouth was rather rigorously occupied, and she arched into him, his tongue driving her mad with wanting. Her body shifted and writhed beneath his, and he groaned as her soft figure pressed against his arousal, again and again.

Her hands tugged at his tie, pulling the length of silk aside and flinging it away, before feverishly undoing the buttons of his shirt. He was fairly certain he heard a few of them fly off in her haste. Her hot hands skimmed over his chest, setting him afire, and he forced himself to focus, the feel of her soft, warm thigh under his hand as he slid the palm up her leg, taking the hem of her skirt with it.

Jane was already drowning in lust, and he'd barely touched her really. Molten heat was pooling in her stomach, a heaviness and an emptiness that had been left too long. She needed him more than she needed to breathe.

She pulled him back up to her lips, thrusting her tongue into his mouth, drawing a throaty groan from him, as she pressed herself up against his body, one hand buried in his hair, soft as raven's feathers.

His hips rocked between her thighs, rhythmically, knowingly driving her mad. She ripped off the last button of his shirt, before shoving it down his shoulders and arms, scraping her nails lightly over his pale skin. He growled into her mouth, before pausing, hovering over her swollen lips, emerald eyes dark with lust that matched Jane's own.

"Calm, Jane. We have plenty of time," he breathed soothingly. She shook her head, panting softly.

"No. Later, please Loki. I just need you now," she gasped. "Inside me now."

"As my Queen wishes," he replied, eyes smouldering into hers. She smiled in triumph, and her hands fell to his belt. His hands rucked up her dress to her waist, pulling it off over her head as she was forced to pause in her frantic undressing of him.

Despite his capitulation, Loki was determined to draw it out as much as possible, so once he stripped her bare, relishing the soft form underneath his own. There was a softness to her body now, from childbirth, that intoxicated him. Her body was still so sensitive and responsive, as she arched when his fingers trailed down the centre of her body, down the valley of her breasts and gliding over her navel. She cried out, her hands fisting in the bedclothes.

It had been too long. As his fingers slid and caressed over and inside her, he could feel her body tensing already, too long deprived of his touch. He smiled, and shifted down, ignoring her disappointed whimper, relishing her scream when he replaced his fingers with his lips and tongue.

She went over the edge with a cry of ecstasy, one hand coiled tightly in his hair. Satisfied she was ready, he gently trailed kisses up her body, lingering on her stomach, as he always did, worshipping her and the place where she had carried their children. Her limbs slowly regained their tension, and she undulated beneath him, expertly beckoning him on. Gritting his teeth against the urge to take her, Loki gently scraped his teeth over the hardened peak of one breast as he rid himself of his last garments by magic.

He stretched out with his magic, feeling hers, sated, relaxed, and smiled in satisfaction as it stirred, instinctively reaching for his own. His forehead rested on hers, lips hovering over hers, as their magicks entwined and mingled as their bodies would. They both shuddered from the sensations, and he couldn't wait any more. As he kissed her, he thrust her into her body with a relieved moan.

She could taste herself on his tongue. The combination of lust, magic, and the feel of his body flexing into his was almost too much.

She broke their kiss to whisper in his ear, teeth scraping the lobe. "Don't hold back, sweetheart. Don't hold back."

He paused, searching her eyes, before something darkened in his, something animalistic and dangerous. It thrilled her as he withdrew and wildly thrust back into her, as she arched her back in bliss. His mouth hungrily marked her neck, as she clutched his shoulders, nails biting deep, as his rhythm turned urgent, punishing.

A wave of scorching heat, building in Jane since he had entered her, overcame and washed over her, again and again, through their connection, as he stiffened and cried out above her. She felt his satiation as her own, and cried out his name, a blissful smile breaking over her face.

* * *

She collapsed, boneless, against the mattress, Loki pulling her close and tenderly tucking her hair back. "Happy anniversary, darling," he breathed.

Jane smiled with her own predatory edge, as she glanced at her dark, handsome husband. "Oh, I'm not done with you yet," she growled, pushing him over onto his back and straddling him with a grin. He stared, then laughed, his hands fanning over her hips.

"Sweetheart, you are insatiable," he murmured, as she shifted against him. He grit his teeth, then sat up, trapping her against him with his arms. "But first, I have an anniversary gift of my own."

Jane eyed him, before she felt the cool tingle of magic against her neck. She looked down, to find a delicate silver chain around her throat, a tiny silver replica of the asters downstairs hanging in the hollow of her collarbone. "It's beautiful," she gasped, touching it wonderingly.

"It's the least you deserve," he told her firmly. "My Queen, my wife, my lover and the mother of our children. After all you have given me, this is the least I could give you."

"You gave me our children too," she breathed, inclining her head back to his. "I love you."

Her kiss was light, gentle, but her hips rocked hard against his, as his body awoke eagerly, wanting her heat to quench his lust. He laughed and drew back, meeting her twinkling eyes.

"You will be the death of me, woman," he growled. "I taught you too well, it seems."

"I _**am**_ the wife of the God of Mischief," she replied, undulating her hips seductively. His eyes darkened, and he pulled her mouth back to his, and his hips shifted, sheathing himself back inside her ready body. "So show me what I've been missing all these weeks. I'm waiting."

Loki grinned. "Is that a challenge, my love?"

"Hell yes," Jane laughed, tossing her shimmering cloak of hair back. His smile turned animalistic, as he shoved her off of him, twisted her onto her front and trapped her hands against the footboard, thrusting back into her with a growl.

"Challenge accepted," he gently bit her shoulder, making her laugh, his own welling up and escaping his lips. The vibration emanated through their bodies, and it turned to a joined moan, as he proceeded to answer his wife's challenge and drive her out of her mind, the silver aster shining against Jane's flawless skin as their passion rose and overwhelmed them once more.

Whoever claimed the God of Mischief had gone soft with fatherhood and marriage, clearly had never seen him with his wife. If they had, they'd never doubt it.

And they'd probably need therapy.

**The End**


End file.
